Former West Wing actor Rob Lowe has said the London bombings made him more determined to make his West End debut in the play A Few Good Men.

The actor told reporters he was "happy to represent Americans in London", adding: "Greetings from the States, we love and adore you."

"I know there has been a tremendous cost for supporting my country's war on terror, and I appreciate it," he said.

The 41-year-old plays the role that Tom Cruise took in the 1992 film.

His co-stars in the play, written by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin, include former Coronation Street star Suranne Jones, Doctor Who actor John Barrowman and Jack Ellis of ITV's Bad Girls.

'Emotion'

Lowe, who left The West Wing in 2002, said his decision to make London his home for the next six months had been questioned by his friends in the US, following the suicide bombings on 7 July, which killed 52 people.

"It was: 'You're taking your family and your kids?' and that whole thing," he said.

"But you've got to do what you've got to do. If anything it makes me more anxious to come here, because it will infuse the play with some additional emotion."

In A Few Good Men - which opens at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 18 August - Lowe and Jones play lawyers who defend a pair of US marines accused of murder.

It has not been performed in a major theatre for 16 years.

"The play was written before a lot of things that have informed how we feel about the military, but I think it is going to resonate," said Sorkin.

"Whenever you do a revival it begs the question 'why now and why here?'" said Lowe.

"I can't think of a better place to do the show than London right now, and I can't think of a better theme to do than the cost of protecting the world."